Ebony - Wakanda In Real Time: Black Tech Saturdays Empowers Communities Through Innovation

By Kianga Moore

 Johnnie and Alexa Turnage’s Black Tech Saturdays empower Black and Brown innovators bridges the gap in tech education and access, fostering collaboration and innovation in Detroit’s startup community.

“We Black people are geniuses, we are so creative, we have so many different skills but when you talk about unlocking your genius and in the way we light up, we have to let AI and other technology tools help us with the rest,” said Alexa Turnage. 

A futurist technology movement is gaining momentum, one Saturday at a time in Detroit’s start-up community. Alexa and Johnnie Turnage, co-founders of Black Tech Saturdays, have made it their mission to bridge the gap in tech education and access. The innovative husband-and-wife duo is helping redefine how technology intersects with community empowerment for Black and Brown users.    

The couple envisioned Black Tech Saturdays becoming a national model for inclusive tech innovation after realizing the sparse representation of Black founders in tech spaces.

"At the beginning, it was just me and another founder hanging out on Saturdays, helping each other," Johnnie recalls. "We were just two people leaning in, sharing knowledge and resources but we quickly saw the need to expand this community."…